Flame retardancy has become a desired property for plastic articles used for commercial and household purposes, such as electrical insulation, carpeting, seat covers, and the like. Polymer compositions can be made difficultly flammable by the incorporation of various flameproofing agents. However, the ease of obtaining flame retardancy in a given polymer tends to vary from polymer to polymer. One type of polymer may be more effectively flame retarded than another, using the same amounts of additives; or, one type of polymer may require increased amounts of additives over the requirements of another type of polymer for each equivalent level of retardancy; or even one polymer species within a polymer class may require more or less flame retarded additive.
The search for novel compounds which can impart effective flame retardant properties to a variety of polymeric compositions continues.